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A Brain Chain can help your child link together a powerful method of learning.
Learn how they think...
I want to help you better understand how the child with a learning disability views the world they live in. If you can see the world from their perspective, you will be able to decipher what type of learning method your child has developed to make sense of their surroundings…
Many of the children that have trouble learning the traditional way are simply stuck in one early learning phase or another. For whatever reason, they need more time to get the information memorized and categorized. That’s why it is important to figure out what interests them and understand how they process the information they absorb from their environment.
Here is an article giving an overview of normal development.
http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/piaget.html
Many of the children that have trouble learning the traditional way are simply stuck in one early learning phase or another. For whatever reason, they need more time to get the information memorized and categorized. That’s why it is important to figure out what interests them and understand how they process the information they absorb from their environment.
Here is an article giving an overview of normal development.
http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/piaget.html
I have over 20 years of raising and teaching children who are labeled as learning disabled, hyperactive, ADD/ ADHD, developmentally delayed, ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder), or have a mild-moderate level of aspergers/ autism or other types of cognitive learning dysfunction.
Teach their way...
The development of logic or cognitive reasoning is not always on time with the statistical charts of normal development. Simply because a child reaches a certain age or knowledge level doesn’t mean they will be able to understand the intent of language. Sometimes they cannot attach 2 or 3 meanings to the same words or phrases.
Comprehension of concrete terms (item labeling and action words) can help them develop boundaries for certain behaviors, but if they get confused about the meaning of a word or instruction, they won’t be able to reason out that a reversed negative (positive) question “Don’t you want to pet the kitty?” means something different than a negative instruction “Don’t pull the cats’ tail”.
Since both statements have the word don’t in it and pertain to the same subject (the cat) and involve virtually the same action (touching the cat), the child becomes unsure how to interpret the two situations correctly. He experiences a stronger negative reaction from the statement “Don’t pull the cat’s tail”, so he also categorizes the other question as a negative and comes to the conclusion that he can’t touch the cat at all.
It seems very simplistic, but children who are tuned to different learning
Comprehension of concrete terms (item labeling and action words) can help them develop boundaries for certain behaviors, but if they get confused about the meaning of a word or instruction, they won’t be able to reason out that a reversed negative (positive) question “Don’t you want to pet the kitty?” means something different than a negative instruction “Don’t pull the cats’ tail”.
Since both statements have the word don’t in it and pertain to the same subject (the cat) and involve virtually the same action (touching the cat), the child becomes unsure how to interpret the two situations correctly. He experiences a stronger negative reaction from the statement “Don’t pull the cat’s tail”, so he also categorizes the other question as a negative and comes to the conclusion that he can’t touch the cat at all.
It seems very simplistic, but children who are tuned to different learning
channel are better able to create a workable behavior pattern if they can get simple, direct, and positive examples. Teach him what you want him to do, don’t tell him what you want him to stop doing.
Instead of using a negative – "Don’t pull the cat’s tail!" (which may get interpreted as “don’t touch the cat” or he may not hear the word don’t and follow your directions to pull the cats’ tail, and wonder why he is in trouble for minding you)
or a vague statement –“Be nice to the kitty!” (His definition of NICE may be different than yours)
Say – “Pet the cat gently!” (then show him what your GENTLY includes)
Always be right there to monitor {and calmly intervene if necessary}. If the child does not comply with the behavior boundaries you teach for interacting with animals by himself, you can redirect the child’s hand away from the tail to scratch the cat behind the ears.
Take a look at some tips to help your child think through daily situations in a more systematic way…
http://uk.geocities.com/ladyavenger/help.htm
When you always use the same language labels (terms), and teach 1 or 2 instructions in a simple straight-forward format, the child
Instead of using a negative – "Don’t pull the cat’s tail!" (which may get interpreted as “don’t touch the cat” or he may not hear the word don’t and follow your directions to pull the cats’ tail, and wonder why he is in trouble for minding you)
or a vague statement –“Be nice to the kitty!” (His definition of NICE may be different than yours)
Say – “Pet the cat gently!” (then show him what your GENTLY includes)
Always be right there to monitor {and calmly intervene if necessary}. If the child does not comply with the behavior boundaries you teach for interacting with animals by himself, you can redirect the child’s hand away from the tail to scratch the cat behind the ears.
Take a look at some tips to help your child think through daily situations in a more systematic way…
http://uk.geocities.com/ladyavenger/help.htm
When you always use the same language labels (terms), and teach 1 or 2 instructions in a simple straight-forward format, the child
learns to develop a procedure of figuring out what the reliable results of an action/reaction is and can then build a foundation of what is dependable in his world.
For example:
If you start each meal with “Sara, please sit down at the table.” , you will want to avoid telling her to “sit up while you’re eating”. because “… sit up/sit down … at the table” may confuse her. You can instruct her to "sit correctly", which teaches several intentions at the same time (stop fidgeting, fix your posture, no kicking the table, etc.) - again always spoken in the positive format of what you want to be done.
Teaching this method in the learning environment of schools (and daily life experience, as well) can further help your child assimilate new information better and faster because he has already started to create a learning technique that works for his level of understanding and can use that to compare the new information with his firm foundation of “facts”.
Keep everything short and sweet (simple and positive) and you will be able to avoid misunderstandings on both sides!
For example:
If you start each meal with “Sara, please sit down at the table.” , you will want to avoid telling her to “sit up while you’re eating”. because “… sit up/sit down … at the table” may confuse her. You can instruct her to "sit correctly", which teaches several intentions at the same time (stop fidgeting, fix your posture, no kicking the table, etc.) - again always spoken in the positive format of what you want to be done.
Teaching this method in the learning environment of schools (and daily life experience, as well) can further help your child assimilate new information better and faster because he has already started to create a learning technique that works for his level of understanding and can use that to compare the new information with his firm foundation of “facts”.
Keep everything short and sweet (simple and positive) and you will be able to avoid misunderstandings on both sides!
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laura@abrainchain.com
laura@abrainchain.com
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